TTP - JuA faces further rift and split in terror group

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ISLAMABAD: The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (TTP JuA) faces a rift as a senior leader and his supporters mull over launching their own group.

Mukarram alias Omar Khorasani, who was one of the close confidants of the JuA chief Omar Khalid Khorasani, recently parted ways with the group and is expected to announce his own group that will be a serious setback for the group.

Spokesman for the banned JuA , Asad Mansoor, announced on Wednesday that Mukaram and his followers had been “banished from the Jamaat”.

He said a detailed policy statement would be issued later, asking supporters not to take any sort of step, which could hurt their activities.

Mukarram, who belongs to Pandeyali tehsil in Mohmand Agency, was the main character behind the JuA’s activities with his position as head of the group’s intelligence unit. He was member of the group’s central ‘shura’ or council, Ahrar sources told Daily Times.

Some militant sources say several commanders are likely to join the rebel leader. They include Jehad Yar Mehsud, commander Muslim Yar Momand, commander Rashid Mama, Saad alias Wuraf Khan, commander Imran and Salman. Some other people also support Mukarram, the sources said.

Mukarram appeared in a video last month after he was reportedly injured in a firing incident. He told his supporters that a “plot against him has failed”.

Ahrar, blamed for many deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan in recent years that killed many people including security personnel, has been in trouble because of internal differences.

In April, Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesman for the JuA , who surrendered to the security forces, had claimed in a video that Khorasani “had contacts with the Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies”.

In June, the group expelled four leaders over their “activities against Islamic sharia and violating the group’s principles”, according to the JuA spokesman.